


Reborn

by TheMoon_in_thesky



Category: Powerpuff Girls
Genre: Bubbles' special power is her sonic scream, Buttercup's special power is her mange state, Could be turned into a series if I get more ideas, F/M, Seems like a crossover but is not, a bit like rebirth, boys might be a bit softer, girls are renewed every five years, my info might be a bit rough, team up between the two
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-08 12:05:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15243015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMoon_in_thesky/pseuds/TheMoon_in_thesky
Summary: For years now, decades even, the Powerpuff Girls have been reborn over and over again, just to protect America.  They'll be born, and at five, they are found, their powers awaken, and the new girls take up the mantle while the old ones can live ordinary lives.  The cycle goes on and on, until one day it can't.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, even if you didn't like the Prologue, just read the first chapter, it gets better. While I don't know how many chapters it will end up being, it is definitely complex. My current plan is rather short, but I think this will actually end up being longer. I will try to update at least once a month, but I can't tell when. Please comment if you have something to say at all, really, anything at all. See you soon!

     The Powerpuffs knew that this day would come for a while.  They knew when they turned 30, and Bubbles couldn’t hear her sonic scream, even when they could all see the damage it was causing.  They knew when they turned 40, and Buttercup realized she wasn’t as flexible as she had been when she pulled a muscle doing a kick over her head.  They knew when they turned 50, and Blossom found a grey hair. Sure, they were superhuman, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t still human. They still got aches and pains, and the same factors would cause the same consequences.  A lot of stress caused premature grey hair, just like how not stretching regularly caused a lack of flexibility, just like how age caused a loss in frequencies heard. They were human, even if they had powers. The now Powerpuff Women were growing old, and even if they kept their bodies in the best shape they could, they would still die around 90, and they most likely wouldn’t be able to fight well.

     They had thought long, and hard about what to do in this occasion, and they had help in deciding what to do.  Mike and Robin Believe had helped them create a superhero part of the government. Once the U.S. set the example, other countries hurried to match them, and even the United Nations created World SuperHero and Paranormal Protection Organisation, or WSHPPO.  Soon, all and any individuals with...erm...unique talents were protected, and surprisingly enough, there wasn’t too much prejudice. But, the U.S. still needed the protection granted to it for many years by the Puffs.

     So, the women made a plan, experimented, altered their plan, and made more experiments to do.  They finalized their plan, and Bubbles and Buttercup had hid the plan and preparations from Blossom so that she couldn’t alter it.  

     “Leader girl, c’mon, you know what we’ve got to do, and honestly, you’ll just make yourself sick with worry,” Buttercup whined to her sister, who was shuffling through her notes again.

     “Buttercup, let her do what she wants.  After all, it’s not  _ us  _ that’s being affected, but someone else.” Bubbles tucked a piece of her greying hair behind her ear, and frowned at Buttercup.

     “Oh you two,” sighed Blossom, “well girls, we should probably head off to the lab.”

**~~~---**

     “It looks like we succeeded.  From now on, the Powerpuff Girls get time to be babies, teens, and adults.  You women only need to work for about six more years.” 


	2. Catastrophe

The afternoon the world changed was deceptively calm.  School was almost out, and across the country high schoolers were either doing finals, or studying for them while younger siblings ped up the ticking time bombs that were their older siblings.  Effectively making their older siblings rue the day they asked for a sister or brother, the oh-so innocent youngsters teased, yelled, and generally disrupted study time.

On the East Coast, one chatterbox sister distracted a dark haired girl studying math, to the point where said dark haired girl threatened some punishment if she got less than a 90% on the final.  In another house, another younger sister fought with a dark haired boy for control of the speaker while a college aged sister looked on, In another state, in the midwest, a blonde sighed with relief as she finished a last paragraph in French.  At the _other_ school, another blond’s pencil flew across the page, mapping out a song, his band final long since turned in.  To the west, a girl with copper hair that everyone was convinced she dyed, sat down to an English final, while a couple classrooms over, another redhead started the Euro history test.

The shadow of finals was slowly moving east, as the west started their last final, the midwest finished their penultimate, and the poor east still had another day of finals.  Lime green, cerise, and baby blue nails tapped against desks as the girls unconsciously synced, and tapped out what was once their song. Then, as _Boom_ s rocked the United States, as synced as the girls’ nails, the song suddenly became theirs again.

**~~~---**

“...and then she grabbed my pencil like _this_ ,” Jackie’s little sister demonstrated, snatching up the TV remote.  In her rush, her palm pressed the power button, and the TV turned on.

“Jill, turn it OFF!” Jackie slammed her math binder on the coffee table (probably not the smartest place to study in hindsight), and lunged for the remote.

“Sorry, sorry!” Jill yelped, but then she cocked her head.  “Um...Jackie...check out the headline.”

 **Breaking News** , read the bottom of the screen, **Powerpuff Girls dead?**

“That...that’s a hoax, right?  Right Jackie? Ri...right?”

Her older sister stared at the screen a second longer, then grabbed the remote from her sister’s limp hand, and turned the speaker on.

“-o confirmation yet.  That boom, or booms we should say, most of the U.S. felt five minutes ago seems to have originated from three separate fights each Powerpuff was fighting.  Their opponents were different monsters, and in the booms, the girls seemed to have eliminated the monsters, but at the cost of their lives. Here’s a video of one fight caught by a passerby.”

The video was grainy, shaky, and obviously taken from a phone.  There was a roar, and a streak of green racing towards the source, to the left of the screen.  A _boom_ , and the camera flinched back.  Cheers arose as the smoke cleared, and the monster’s corpse was revealed and the phone focused on it.  The cheers faltered off as Nix stayed down.

The video went on distantly, and even further away, Jackie was aware of her finger pushing the power button.  She put her head in her hands, and waited. People lie when they say shock hits like a train. It hits like the entire sky, pressing you into the ground, and all you can see in any direction you look is a lithe form, and dark eyelashes that just about brushed her cheeks.

**~~~---**

“Excuse me?”

The teacher raised her eyebrow at the hand, and started to walk over.

“No, I don’t...I already finished the test.  It’s just...I think everyone’s finished, and I think you should put the news on.”

“Why?” asked Ms. Archer, frowning slightly.

“Just...trust me.”

“...Ok?”  The teacher clicked on the SmartScreen, and goes to the first news channel.

A gasp goes around the room as they read the headline.  Chris cocked his head, while brushing his music into his folder.

Ms. Archer frowned, and clicked on the first article, and a picture fills the screen.  It was split into three sections, and Chris narrowed in on the section with the blonde.  Calli was barely recognizable, her uniform in shreds, which should have been impossible, her golden pigtails undone, and dyed...blue from whatever monster’s blood she was laying in.

The class stared at the screen for a minutes, and then Chris’s phone started buzzing.  He went red as everyone swung around to face him, but before long everyone’s phone’s started going off, including Ms. Archer’s.

Ms. Archer pulled out her phone, and glanced at it.  Looking back up, she saw the question in everyone, and she nodded as she herself accepted her call.  Soon, the room was abuzz as anxious parents called, and their children reassured them of their safety.

Chris took out his own phone, and accepted the call without even looking at the caller ID.

“Chris? Chris!  Oh my gosh, did you see the news?  What am I going to do?! What are Vane and Jackie doing?  Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, ohmygosh! Poor Calli! And-oh shoot!  I didn’t just tell you the other girls’ names?! Oh, I did, I did, I’m so stupid, I should be the Dumber that the Dumbest, not you, and oh my gosh, Calli!  Why, why, why?! And she was at her peak too! They all were! They were going to start medication in three months, and oh we’re going to have to come off, or the next generation is going to have to start early!  And-”

“Anna,” Chris said, wishing he could reach through the phone.  “Anna, it’ll be alright. I’m sure that there are plans in place for this.  Besides, even if you do have to, the original Puffs fought until they were 80.  I’m sure you and the girls will be able to manage until the Supers’ section can come up with something.”

“Okay,” Anna whispered into the phone, and Chris heard an intake of air.  “Ok, ok. I’ve done this before, and it’s _been_ done before.  I can do this. Thanks Chris.”

“Hey, It’s no big deal.”  Chris shrugged, and immediately remembered that she couldn’t see him.   _Dumber that the Dumbest._

“No, no, it means a the world to me.  Thank you for having my back.”

“It’s the least I could do, considering our past.”

**~~~---**

Vane’s pencil itched to fly across the page, but she forced herself to move slowly.  She had plenty of time, and rushing would not accomplish anything besides rendering her essay illegible.  Not even panic, no, _worry_ , former Pink Power Puffs do not _panic_ , they _worry_.  Not even worries about Selene or how her adoptive sisters would be taking this, was seen an acceptable excuse in her eyes for anything less than a 95% on her English final.  Nothing is an acceptable excuse to do poorly on a test that she has studied for, and should be easy.

And so, an hour and a half later, Vane handed in her test.  She had finished among the first, but waited to pass her test in, so as to double check her nerves had not caused any mistakes.  Before she walked back to her seat, she grabbed her phone out of the box, and offered a smile to her teacher.

Mrs.  White smiled back, hiding her tenseness a little better than Vane.

She made her way back to her seat, and thought about the battle that had happened outside the high school not even four hours ago.

Vane and her classmates had all been sitting around chatting, and reviewing notes when the roar  took the place of the attendance bell. A moment later, the loudspeakers had crackled to life, and the school was officially in lockdown mode.

Through the translucent shades, they could see the blurred outlines of the monster and Selene battling.  It had ended with Selene icing it, and then ramming herself into it, causing it to fall and shatter.

Everyone had waited for the pink light to come back up, but half an hour passed, and they were starting their finals, while the state police scoured the area to make sure that it was safe.  During the thirty minutes, Vane had reanalyzed every move she had seen. It seemed that the monster hadn’t been scared off, or at least hinted any wish to go away when it should have according to the rules.  As the battle had raged on, the younger Blossom had tired. In a last effort Selene conjured up the coldest ice she could, and froze the monster inside and out. Before the heat could thaw it ( It had been a dragon-like creature), she smashed it to pieces, but in doing so, most likely killed herself.  Vane herself knew how much effort it took to use that cold of ice, and she would have been confused, to say the least. The combination of the exhaustion, and the ramming oneself into a monster would be, and had been a deadly combination, and yet Selene ha still gone through. And yet Blossom had save the day.

**~~~---**

Three girls waited for a government call, while one boy wondered in baby blue nails would be calling his number that night.  Two other boys called each other, and discussed the events of the day, and whether this was the type of emergency talked about in a brief  call from the Super and Paranormal Department back when they turned eleven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, hopefully that chapter was better than the prologue. It's definitely longer.


	3. Chapter 3

Jacqueline had given up studying altogether.  Sure, it was math, her least favorite, and therefore her worst subject.  Sure, it was the final. But, come _on_ it was the _final_.  Only 10% of her final grade, right?

She had long passed anger, bargaining,...depression?  Maybe she was still in depression. But, her English teacher said that you weren’t able to identify the stage you were currently in, so...oh who the hell cared?!

Nix was _dead_ , though.  She shouldn’t have died.  There was a strict contract with Monster Isle, aka Area 51.  No killing on either side. Maiming, ok as long as most near any vital organs.  If knocked out, either let them wake up, or wait 24 hours for the monster to wake up, and escape.  The list went on, and was one of the first things learned at Puff camp, along with diagrams of general monster anatomy.  They were told the monsters who wished to attack were told the same things, as well as how to to recognize when it was acceptable for them to escape, and when to back off because the Puffs were tired.  None of this should have, _could_ have happened.  It just wasn’t logical.

Jackie stopped staring at her phone long enough to glance to the kitchen where her Antidote X tablets were.  She didn’t know if she should stop taking them. She wanted to, oh she _so_ wanted to, just to fly again, or...maybe...go to either Anna or Vane, or both, and fly with them to Monster Isle, and give a good...yelling.  Of course, that was highly frowned upon...by a lot of people...including the government.

Jackie looked back at her phone, willing it to just _ring_ so that she could get her orders (not that she was to be ordered around like some brainless soldier, no, just a _little_ info would be _wonderful_ now).  The next generation of Powerpuffs would only be 4, and if the monsters all three Powerpuffs had been fighting needed to be killed...well, there was no way they’d let them fight now, at least.  Maybe Jackie would taste the sky again…

“Snap out of it girl,” she muttered to herself, “You’ve got a math final tomorrow, and you already threatened Jill with bodily harm if you don’t get a 90% on it.  It wouldn’t be good to make idle threats.” She smirked to herself, knowing it had been an idle threat the moment she’d said it, and that there was no way she’d hurt her younger sister.

**~~~---**

“Yeah, honestly I wouldn’t even mind if this were the real deal.  I mean _man_ anything to stop taking stupid Antidote X, you know?”  Alex sighed through his nose, and adjusted his grip on his Ephone.

“Just be patient.  Although...I currently have no control over you whatsoever, so if you were to say...forget a dose...say once a week...then that would be neither of our faults.  As long as you didn’t cause trouble. And didn’t draw too much attention. Also, stay away from...Jacqueline, right?”

“Jackie, yeah.  God, we’re such wimps, calling each other almost every hour just to check in.”

“It sure would seem that way.”  A pause, then, “Really though Alex, be careful.  I don’t like the look of these monsters, and I can tell Vane doesn’t either, even though she wouldn’t actually say that aloud, much less to me.  Not that she knows I’m her counterpart. Just...you’re my brother, and even if we have to protect these dumb girls, we should stay as safe as we can.  The world is changing, and if we try to stay away from the girls, then maybe we can stay safe. I’ve tried to tell Chris that, but he refuses to see reason, insisting that we’ll all be stronger if we team up with the girls now.  Even if so, we’d just become bigger targets. I’d prefer to keep our target signs smaller.” Another pause. “Cripes, I sound so pessimistic. But really, only follow the rules to the letter. Bye.”

“Bye.”  Alex hung up, and put his phone down, by his side.  He wanted to put it in his pocket, but what if Leo or Chris called him?  He wanted to be able to answer the call as soon as possible, and if it were in his pocket...he was being ridiculous.  A sissy, a wimp, an idiot. It would be a good thing if Leo didn’t call again, and he wasn’t going to answer if it was Chris.  Now Chris was the idiot, befriending Anna! And, if Anna’s photos on Momegram were to be believed, more than friends. Really Chris?

Alex sighed, and slipped his phone into his pocket.  Everything would work out.

**~~~---**

Jackie had finished her test, and joined the rest of the class in staring at the clock enough time ago that her eyes had glazed, and she had been startled when someone whispered.

“10.”

“No, not happening,” the teacher warned.

The class groaned, but a second later the bell rang, and Jackie stood up.

Outside, she checked her phone to make sure no calls had come in while she had been testing.  Or emails, or texts. Then, she checked to make sure that there were no cars coming at her, and started walking across the street.  She looked down again at her phone, and checked the news. Nothing.

Suddenly, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and she looked around. She had come out the back, where there was a place to wait for your parents to come.  She had crossed the pickup street/lane, and was on a small field that led to a shortcut to the middle school where she was supposed to be picking up her sister. Seeing nothing much, she turned around, only to be slammed to the ground.   Jumping up, she saw that it was a boy from her math class, Nick, who had bumped into her. Then, she saw why.

A car, one that she was fairly sure she’d never seen before at the high school, had somehow managed to slide so that is was perpendicular to the school in the pick up lane.  

Everyone stared at it, and Jackie saw a few phones go up.

The driver’s door opened, and collectively, everyone took a step back as a man stepped out as if he hadn’t just crashed his Porsche.  He only scanned the sea of faces, and Jackie had the weirdest urge to step behind Nick.

In the time she was deciding what to do, the man saw her, and took a step forward.  “Hey, you!” He pointed at her, and the students before her all looked at her. “You’re Buttercup.”

A stunned silence, and a few people started snickering.

Jackie snorted, and covered her mouth as if she were trying to suppress her laughter, while thinking frantically.   _He can’t know, he must just be guessing.  I’m safe, no one believes him, just look at them all laughing._ Outloud, she called back, “Um, no I’m too old to be her.  Besides, um, I really think you should check the news.”

“You’re Buttercup!  From the Powerpuff girls!”

Her eyes widened, and before she could stop herself, “Haven’t you heard?  They’re dead!”

All the laughter that had burst from his Powerpuffs comment stopped.  A gasp came from her statement, but not as loud as the one that came from his next one.

“Forget them!”

It was dead silent now.  It seemed even the birds and wind were silent, as if nature itself was shocked by his comment.

“E- _excuse me?!_ ” a junior gasped.  “Did you just, like, dismiss the girls who likely saved all of our asses fighting those three monsters?!”

Jackie griminced, and saw other students do the same, while others shuffled their feet.  The What-ifs had sprung up not even an hour after the girls had defeated the monsters, and everyone was either calming someone down from reading too many theories, seeing someone freaking out, or freaking out themselves.  The only time when they were relatively free from all of it was during the finals when they had to give up mobile devices and smart watches. Everyone willingly gave up their devices, in fact Jackie had even witnessed even some of the more social media obsessed people take off their smart watches, and not try to hide them.  No one wanted to read, or even _see_ any theories that were being texted around, even though there was doubtlessly notes stored on said watches.

“So, what if I did?” snapped the man.  “She’s Buttercup, or she was when she was younger!”

“Look, I think I speak for a good amount of us when I say that’s a sore subject,” interjected a sophomore.  “Do you have any proof?”

The gleam in his eye scared Jackie, and she tried to keep any shock from her face as he

pulled out a picture.

It showed a floating _Jackie_ at her _current_ age, in the football field.  She recognized the day with a sinking feeling.  It had been August, and she had been trying out from fall soccer earlier.  They were working on tapering her meds, and after tryouts, after everyone had left, she just was struck with the urge to fly.  To get off the ground, and touch the sky again. So, she had tried. She hadn’t expected to succeed. But she had. She got off the ground and hovered for a second, looking around.

Later that day, she had accidentally used her powers in front of her mom.  Back to full dose she had gone. But, she still wanted to fly again.

“Photoshop.” Jackie held her head high, and tried her best to look down on the man.

“No,” he snarled.  “Stop finding excuses and just admit it, you wretched girl!”

“I’m not admitting to something that’s not true because for all I know, you’re just some reporter who’s looking for an easy break!  How do I know that you didn’t just look through the school records, and just picked the first dark haired, green eyed girl you could find!  I don’t want the media swarming my house, I’ve seen the movies!”

The man snarled, and then grew eerily quiet.  

Jackie grew aware of the number of phones pointed at her face, and scowled.  They quickly turned away though, when the man started..chittering...like a squirrel?  What the…

A giant squirrel burst out from the ground, and everyone flinched back except for the man.  It grabbed a car, and _chucked_ it at the school, luckily without anyone in it.  

Everyone stared at it for a second, and then mass panic erupted as people started running every which way, just trying to get away.

Jackie stood frozen, even as the squirrel bashed the school with another car.

She needed to help, but...but her identity…

“Hey...HEY IDIOT!”

The man turned.

“Hey, control it!”  
“I-I don’t know how!”

Jackie looked in his eyes, and saw that somehow, he was telling the truth.  Her identity...oh screw it!

She yanked off her backpack, and pulled it back across the street, to the relative safety of the overhang where students would normally wait for a car.  Ignoring the staring, she ripped her bag open. _Where is it, where is it, where-there!_

She pulled out her epipen-like Chemical X injection, and taking a deep breath, stabbed her arm.

**~~~---**

Alex was mindlessly scrolling through Momegram when he saw that Nick had a new story, which was odd, considering he’d already seen his for today.

Alex frowned, and clicked on it.   _It’s...live?  Oh_ shit _that’s an X needle._

Alex watched flabbergasted as Jackie stabbed her arm, and then buckled as the Antidote X that she’d been taking ever since she was 10 was overwhelmed.  The process wasn’t supposed to be painful, Alex was told, but he had to wonder as he watched Jackie uncover her powers. Besides, the whole theory seemed painful, like you’ve been living in a dark cave ever since you were 10, and only now have came out again.

Alex blinked.   _Oh-okay, enough deep thoughts.  She’s gonna need some help. Or...will she?_

The giant...squirrel? It turned to face Jackie as she shuddered, and straightened up.  Casually, she took off her glasses, and tightened her ponytail.

Suddenly, the world was looking at a 14 year old Buttercup in Jackie’s clothes.  The glasses had been one of the brilliant inventions of the Puffs of old, and they refracted light in a way to make the wearer’s eyes seem a different color.

The squirrel started making an odd growling noise, and pounced on BC.

She flew up, and punched it before it could hit her, sending it stumbling back.

_Nah, she doesn’t need my help.  But...I’ll grab my mask...and maybe get my uniform on._

**~~~---**

Jackie was in the air again.  She was using her powers again.  She was saving the day again. She was also being over eager...again.

Jackie, or Buttercup as she should probably be calling herself, could just _hear_ Leader Girl’s yelling.   _Temper in check, analyze the situation, use your head_ .  Yeah, well she was in varsity soccer, and her softball team won playoffs!  She’d be fi- _oof_.

Her audience gasped as an over sized paw batted her to the small field where she’d been standing not long ago.

She growled, and looked up in time to see the squirrel leaping up into the air.  She rolled towards the street, narrowly missing getting captured by the squirrel, and scrambled up.  Looking around wildly, she spotted the man who’d called the squirrel. His green eyes darted away from her when he saw she was looking.

“Hey!” she yelled.  “Control your damn pet!”

“I-I told you, I don’t know how!”

Buttercup frowned, but was interrupted before she could say anything by the squirrel throwing a car at her.

She caught it, gently put it down, and turned to the squirrel.  A second for her eyes to heat up, but the stupid squirrel dodged, and she hit a tree.  Ooh, that gave her an idea.

She zipped right up to its face, and punched it.  Its head snapped to the side, which she noted with pride, as she swooped behind it, and grabbed the tree she’d accidentally downed.  Then, as the squirrel turned around, she heaved the tree over her shoulder, and flew as fast as she could up, up, up, over its head. Then, with a smirk, she slammed the tree down, effectively knocking it out.

The squirrel toppled over, and look, it seemed luck favored her today as it missed anything important.

There was a stunned silence as Buttercup touched down, and walked over to her backpack.

“Well,” she started, “I hope someone-”

The cheers were deafening as  everyone rushed towards her.

She allowed herself a small smile before forcing a more serious expression on, and opened her mouth to order the inside.  Instead, a breathless grunt escaped her as she was shoved down, and to the side, for the second time that day. BC turned, and saw a knife coated in a strange white liquid laying where she’d been standing, and the student who’d pushed her was lying next to her, staring at her in horror.   

She slowly looked up, and saw the brown gaze of the man who’d called her out, and called the squirrel.  He reached to his belt, and pulled out a second knife, and she leaped into action.

“Run!” she screamed at all the students who were just standing around, _watching_ , while hauling herself and the student next to her, up.

The guy threw the knife, and Buttercup caught it.  She quickly noted that it too was covered in the white liquid, which she was careful not to touch, just in case, and threw the knife down.  Because of her newly returned strength, she smugly noted, the knife was instantly embedded in the concrete.

She quickened her pace, until she was full out running, and brought her fist around to punch.

_This guy doesn’t stand a chance._

It was quick, easy.  First blow to daze him, a kick to knock him off his feet, and second blow to knock him out.

Buttercup got up from where she was kneeling on the guy, and went to get the _third_ knife he’d started to pull out when she’d first punched him, but ended up face first in the concrete.  She rolled, barely missing a knife to the leg, seriously where was he getting all of these?! She stood up, and grimaced as she felt a little blood trickle down, and she felt some of her powers go.   _Damn it._

Buttercup snarled at the guy, who was getting up, and who she had _somehow_ failed to knock out.  The guy had a blank, almost bored expression which made her want to snarl again.  He scrutinized her, and then did the weirdest thing, and yes it was weirder than chittering.  He barked.

Buttercup felt to hair on the back of her neck stand up again.   _Oh not this again._  She turned to where she had left the squirrel, only to find it missing.

Frantically, she looked around, seeing the school, about half the crowd left, but no squirrel.

She spun around again to look at the field- _AARRRGGG!_

Buttercup just wanted to stay curled up in the ball she’d ended up in.   _Toughest Fighter, damnit.  This is_ not _the toughest fighter._ She grit her teeth and forced herself to stand, looking back to the squirrel and the guy through the freaking _bus_ the squirrel had apparently batted her straight through.  She could _feel_ the glass shards in her back and blood running down her back.

The guy smirked, before turning to the who students still outside, and frozen watching.   _What?!  No! NO!_ He pulled out a gun, and- _oh my god it’s been forever, but whatever!_

The students cried out as the bullets sped towards, and then _through_ them, as Buttercup worked a maneuver that had only worked with her sisters before.

She knew her eyes were glowing green, just like how she knew she was going full on Mange mode without full powers.   Her powers were going to go faster now. The antidote X was rushing through her system, faster now that her heartbeat was up.  It was simple logic. Faster heartbeats equal faster blood pressure, equals blood racing through her body faster equals antidote X being distributed faster.

Almost as if on cue, her powers faltered out, when there were only three students left to go in.

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to start to run.

_Goddamnit.  Goddamnit. I’m the toughest fighter, a little glass and use of powers without practice should NOT be overexertion.  The old Buttercup was practically a tank at my age, why the_ hell _can’t I save Nick, Julianna, and Demi?  I play soccer and softball, and have a 5 minute mile.  Sure, Buttercup is the slowest PowerPuff, but by human standards, I’m still fast. Why can’t I make myself go fast enough?!_

Her powers flickered again, and Demi _just_ avoided the bullet, and the door slammed shut.  

Buttercup lowered her hand jerkily, and forced herself to skid to a stop rather than trip over her feet, collapse, and sleep.  She then forced any signs of the the stupid exhaustion she was feeling down, lifting her chin in what she hoped was a cocky manner.

The man and the squirrel turned to face her eerily in sync.

“See?” he said, gesturing at her.  “You are Buttercup. The world deserved to know.”

Buttercup simply got into an offensive position.  She knew that Blossom would’ve said something clever, but she knew that he was going to attack again.  Besides, she hadn’t talked much since the start of the fight, and she didn’t feel like saying anything now.

The squirrel jumped behind her, so she turned so that she had a shoulder to each opponent.

Her eyes flicked to the guy, then the squirrel.  Guy. Squirrel. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right.

In a split second, she turned and slammed her foot up, against the guy’s nose.  The moment her foot made contact, she was flipping so that her stomach faced the ground, and her head pointed at the squirrel.  Another split second and she was flying up, up, up at the squirrel. Her fist slammed in it’s stomach, and she zipped back, back up to assess the damage.

The guy was clutching his nose, and the squirrel was on its back again.

She zipped back down to knock the guy out, and tie him up, but a moment later she was falling.

**~~~---**

“ _Holy.  Shit._ ”  Nick’s voice came from Alex’s wireless earphones, and Alex resisted the urge to bring his phone out, to see if it was good or bad.  But…” Yeah girl! WHOOO-” _Bang_ “SHIT!”

_I have time, I can see the school from here._  Alex whipped his phone out, unconsciously biting his lip.  

Unlocking his phone, which never felt longer, her was just in time to see the squirrel hitting Jackie, no _Buttercup_ , like she was a baseball straight towards the side of the school.  Since Nick was inside, Alex couldn’t see what happened next, if Buttercup had even hit the side of the building, but it seemed pretty obvious that she had.

The inky haired head raised slowly, and the flimsy phone cracked slightly in his fist as his evergreen eyes glowed ominously.

**~~~---**

What the phones inside had failed to capture was a blur slamming into the side of the building, miraculously missing any windows.  The girl fought to stay conscious on the way down, but with a _crunch_ , she slammed into the concrete.

The squirrel pounced, but a dark green blur beat it to her, and off the dark green shield it went, which was thrown up almost thoughtlessly.  The squirrel pounced on the shield, and pounded on the new blockade to its prey.

To contrast, inside the boy in dark green gently reached out to touch the girl with shaky fingers.

_Invincible_ , he thought in a daze.   _We’re the strongest, we’re supposed to be invincible._ Turning her on her stomach, he drifted his hands over the glass pieces that had become embedded.  With a grimace, he dug out all of the pieces that had managed to stay in during the battle, as well as a bullet in her shoulder and unzipped a pocket in his shirt.  He took out a roll of bandages, and an X needle. With a deep breath, her stabbed her arm.

**~~~---**

Buttercup’s eyes flew open.  Her torso for some reason was up higher than her legs, and she was staring at the concrete.  She tried to put her hands in front of her to lift herself up, but a pair of warm hands held her down.

“Hey, hey, hey.  Try not to move Spice.”

Buttercup sucked in a breath.  “Butch?!”

A pause, and Buttercup scrambled to get on her knees.  This time, he let her move, and she all of a sudden, she was face to face with her old enemy.  

He looked similar to his younger self in the same way that Buttercup did.  Black hair, a type that was supposed to be impossible, fir tree eyes. But he had changed too.  His slightly maniacal grin, oh who was she kidding, the mad scientist grin was gone, he was much more tan, and most importantly, he was _taller_ than her.  She noticed this, and was immediately annoyed by it.  Whenever they had fought, they’d been the same height, or _she’d_ sometimes be taller than him.

As she stared _up_ at him, he rubbed his neck nervously.  “Yeah. Guess you’re not-no you’re not,” he said as he grabbed her fists as she swung at him.

She struggled, trying to get on her feet so she could kick him, but he held her down using only his grip on her wrists.

“Whoa, I know we used to fight, but come on, _calm down_.  Can’t you see I just saved you?”

“I don’t give a shit.  How do I know that you didn’t just heal me because you wanted to fight me instead?”  Because yes, she _had_ noticed the empty X needle, and the fact that her back didn’t hurt anymore.  “Besides, if you’re so good, why didn’t you help everyone else instead?!”

“Hey, I just got here, ask the squirrel!  I only had time to stop you from becoming squirrel food, and to heal you.  You don’t get to act ungrateful. Besides, I couldn’t have you becoming squirrel food, that would’ve made me look bad by association!”

“Ooh look the big bad Butch knows big words!  Now get out of here!”

“Hell no, I’ve got to help you!  You’ll fall flat on your face in 10 seconds if I’m not there!”

“I’m not important!  What about the rest of the world?  And what’s with the bandana?!” Because he was indeed wearing a bandana over his nose and mouth, and that was probably what she hadn’t seen his smirk.  Now that she was paying closer attention, she noticed that his outfit was rather, different. He was wearing a dark green muscle shirt with pockets, reminiscent of a jacket, and black workout pants that were close fitted.  His whole outfit looked scarily like…”What the hell? Why do you have a uniform?!”

Even though she couldn’t see his mouth, she could see the way his eyes brightened as he _smirked_.  “Wow Spicey, just noticed?  Also, jealous much?”

“Shut up idiot!” she snapped, her cheeks burning.

“Aww, she _is_ ,” he cooed, way too delighted in Buttercup’s point of view.

“Shut it _Snail_ ,” she snarled.

He stiffened at the hated nickname, and she smirked.  Point for Buttercup.

A crash sounded from above, and she jerked her head skywards.

The giant squirrel slid from Butch’s shield, and backed up, getting ready to pounce again.

The man was at the edge of the shield, staring at them.  When Buttercup met his eyes, he frowned, and opened his mouth.  “Buttercup, Butch, come out. You’re not being very fair, and I detest unfairness.  Come out, and let me kill you Buttercup.”

Butch stared at the guy a second, before turning to Buttercup.  “Any idea on why he wants you dead?”

“Nope.  Hey, why do you want to kill me?” she yelled out, while hauling herself to her feet, ignoring Butch’s outstretched hand.

“Because it’s time for the end of the Pwerpuffs.  If you go, it’ll be the end of them, because they’ll be off balanced.  Besides, you’re the easiest to kill. You’re slow, and you can’t use your head half the time.”

Buttercup frowned, and folded her arms.  “Butch,” she whispered, “I've decided to trust you.  Bring the shield down after the squirrel hits the shield again.  We can run out of the way, it’ll hit the ground, and hopefully when it hits the concrete it’ll be dazed for at least a little bit.”

Butch nodded.  “Be careful for his gun.  The bullets are coated in Antidote X.  When I pulled the bullet out of your shoulder I lost some powers, so it’s a good thing I keep Chemical X wipes on me.”

“We’re talking about why you have so much cooler stuff than me later.”

“Fine.”

**~~~---**

An hour later, Buttercup and Butch were sitting up high in a tree, but close enough to the ground that there was enough trunk for them to lean on.  They’d subdued the guy and the squirrel, and the police had arrested the guy. Buttercup had had to avoid the press in the form of her peers, because Jackie was know apparently a celebrity.

“Ok Butch, identity and explanation please.”

The masked boy made a face that she could still make out, and sighed.  “I guess I owe you.”

“Hell yeah you owe me.  The whole world knows who Jackie Archer is, and besides, I saved you multiple times just now.”

“No you didn’t.  I saved you big time, all the other smaller times don’t count.”

“Still.  Identity.  Story.”

“Fine.  Alex Johnson.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead, gasp away.”

“I wasn’t going to,”  Jackie folded her arms.  “I’ve always thought that if it had to be someone I knew, it’d be, well, you.  Now take off your mask.”

“No.”

“Why?  The world knows who I am, it might as well know who both greens are.”

“Urg, I’ve always hated those nicknames.”

“Same.  Story. Your avoidance tactics won’t work for long.”

“Fine.”  He took off his mask nevertheless, and got comfortable.  “So, the government came to us when we were 5, and told us we could either fight you guys, like, twice a year, and get the Antidote X when we were 10, but back you guys up whenever it looked like you guys needed it, or just get the Antidote X for the rest of our lives.  If we chose the second option, we’d have appointments, and stuff the rest of our lives so that they could make sure that we actually were taking the Antidote X. We decided we’d have to take Antidote X at one point in our lives, but we’d only get one chance to actually use our X, and you guys didn’t seem too bad, so we decided on the first option.  Most of the fights we had, we didn’t want to get put on Antidote X early, which was something they’d threatened, so we tried to go easy. They also recommended that after you guys were older than 12, we form some sort of of power team, but I don’t know if that’ll happen or not. So yeah.”

Jackie was quiet for a moment, then said, “That’s messed up.  And, why didn’t you guys grow to hate us? I didn’t really, I was just more annoyed at your teasing, but I think that Leader Girl did develop some hatred towards Brick at some point.”

Alex rolled his eyes.  “Boomer the idiot had a crush on Bubbles the moment he saw her.  I guess I just saw a potential partner.”

Jackie was quiet a moment longer, before saying, “I think you’d make an ok partner on the battlefield.  I’m not sure about the soccer field, though.”

Alex met her eyes.  “Yeah, same. But, excuse me Spice, I’m pretty sure I’m better than you at soccer.”

“There better not be some sort of stupid name already picked out,”  Jackie warned him, crossing her arms.

Alex laughed, almost falling off the branch he was sitting on.  “Don’t worry,” he said, floating above the branch, “I’m sure that they’ll let us pick, but knowing you, you’ll just give us the worst name in the world.”

**Author's Note:**

> So what did you think? I'd really like to see what you thought, so please comment!


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